Merit-making activities in major cities around the country
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While many Thais celebrated the New Year with merit-making activities yesterday, Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra led city officials and members of the public to offer alms to 189 Buddhist monks at Sanam Luang ceremonial ground.
The venue now temporarily enshrines the Phra Buddha Nawaraj Bopit statue, which was built after an instruction by HM the King and is normally kept at City Hall, so people in Bangkok can worship during the New Year holiday period.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha and his wife Naraporn signed a note of best wishes for the new year for Their Majesties the King and Queen and other members of the Royal Family at the Bureau of the Royal Household hall in the Grand Palace yesterday.
Many other Cabinet members, lawmakers, military chiefs and senior officials, plus foreign envoys, also signed notes wishing the royals well for the new year. Members of the public were given a place in the compound to write notes wishing the royals well – and given a 2015 royal calendar as a souvenir.
In the North, a three-nation New Year countdown, held at the Mae Sai-Tachilek border in Chiang Rai, was a big success – attended by about 20,000 people. In neighbouring Chiang Mai, provincial Governor Suriya Prasatbuntitya led officials and members of the public to offer alms to 358 monks on Huai Kaew Road.
In the South, Phuket Deputy Governors Somkiat Sangkhaosutthirak and Suthee Thongyaem led officials and members of the public to offer alms to 199 Buddhist monks yesterday to mark the new year. Phuket head monk Phrarajasirimuni blessed the people and urged them to observe the five precepts strictly while also being loving, kind and united towards one another.
